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ISEQ rises after Merkel weighs in

Monday, October 22 12:52:19

The ISEQ rose this morning after last week's steep losses after the German Chancellor helped to dispel at least some of the confusion around Ireland's hopes of a bank debt deal.

By 12:45, the ISEQ was up 10.82 points to 3,251.06.

After seeming to muddy the waters last Friday in relation to a deal for Ireland on its legacy bank deal, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has thrown the sovereign a lifeline. In a joint statement with the Taoiseach Enda Kenny, issued last night, she acknowledged Ireland's "unique circumstances" and reaffirmed her commitment to the June 29 statement "to examine the situation of the Irish financial sector with a view to further improving the sustainability". Chancellor Merkel had sent the Irish government into a tailspin over the weekend following her comments that retrospective bank recapitalisation by the ESM was not an option.

Shares in Irish Swiss bakery group, Aryzta rose 10c to E38.30. McDonalds said in its Q3 statement on Friday that October's like for like (lfl) sales are "currently trading negative". This may reflect the downturn in Europe and follows a recovery in lfl sales from the July dip, said Goodbody's Stockbrokers. "While the headline Q3 sales were positive, they were actually lower than expected in the US at +1.2pc (versus 2.2pc market expectations), with Europe up 1.8pc and RoW +1.4pc." It said that the slowdown in McDonalds, and specifically a negative lfl if sustained, is unwelcome news for ARYZTA whose Fresh Start Bakeries is a supplier to McDonalds, especially in Western US. "However, in addition to lfl sales, volume sales will benefit from new store openings. Additionally, McDonalds, along with other food service companies is updating their menus to capture more custom. This plays into ARYZTA's ATI sales efforts in the US and we believe there are some tentative signs of new business emerging from this programme."

Shares in oil and gas explorer, Petroneft, rose 2c to E0.10 after it said that it has found 'outstanding' production rates at its newly completed well in Siberia.

Its Arbuzovskoye well 102, the second of ten planned new production wells on the Arbuzovskoye oil field, has been successfully completed and brought into production at an initial rate of 540 bopd (barrels of oil per day).

This marked the highest flow rate without fracture stimulation in the firm's Licence 61 area, according to the company.

"This is well above our target rate for these wells and further confirms the excellent continuity and good reservoir properties in the eastern portion of the field," said Chief Executive Dennis Francis.

"While there may be some variation in results, we look forward to the additional wells in Arbuzovskoye over the coming months as we continue to focus on materially increasing our production profile and cash flows."